Thunder
by KamiNytha
Summary: Sonny and Chad get stuck in an elevator when the power goes out. How long will they be trapped? What will they learn about each other? What happens when they get out? Channy
1. Trapped

**A/N: **This is my first Sonny With A Chance fic, my third posted. It is my first multi-chap out of all of them though. I hope it goes well and I hope you like it.

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Sonny With A Chance

**Thunder**

**Chapter One – Trapped**

It was late on a Friday. Most of the staff went home early on Friday, eager to start the weekend as soon as possible, so there were probably only a handful of people left in the whole studio. A storm had begun to rage outside, causing the ones who normally might have stayed to leave early as well. However, on the top floor, two teens remained.

They both had been having meetings with the president of the studios, along with directors and producers. Their respective shows had recorded enough ahead that they had some time to work on other ventures. They were allowed to do so as long as they were done in a month when filming resumed. The rest of their casts were looking forward to the weekend – and the break. They had finished their, smaller, piles of papers and gone home a while ago.

Though both were doing the same thing, they were in separate rooms as each show had their own meeting room. It was just seven, already dark due to the storm, when they finished. She finished about a minute before him and was waiting at the elevator when he walked up.

"Chad, what are you doing here so late?" she asked. She was thinking about going home, and the jobs for the month, not on making pleasantries with him. This last week had been exhausting and with all that paper work she just did her wrist was killing her. She also wasn't too fond of thunderstorms. All of this led to her mood being a _little_ less cheerful than normal.

He was a bit surprised at her bluntness but noticed that she was tired, distracted and seemed to be unconsciously rubbing her wrist. It didn't affect how he answered her but he did notice. "Well, hello to you too, Munroe. I was busy filling out papers for all the shows that want me – after all I am the greatest actor of our generation," he responded loftily, "You?"

"Of course you were," Sonny replied dryly. However, she did become a bit less distracted than she had a minute ago. Being around Chad always made her pay more attention. "That's why I'm here too, jobs and stuff."

The bell dinged and two doors opened. Both walked in and since Sonny was on the left she pushed the button for the first floor, "So," always the one for polite conversation, "Are you doing anything interesting this weekend?" She was genuinely curious; on occasion she had wondered what Chad did outside of the studio, it really was the only place she ever saw him.

He glanced over at her, "I'm Chad Dylan Cooper, anything I do is interesting," he began and she rolled her eyes in response, "But this weekend I'll just be hanging out at my house. If anyone deserves to relax after a week of filming overtime for the Falls, it's me. And so I'm ready to start auditioning and stuff next week."

"Oh, same thing for me too," she said in response as she leaned back against the wall, her eyes flickering closed before reopening, "I can't wait to get home. This week has been crazy since we were finishing up our season. I just wanna go home and sleep."

"Ah," he was about to make a comment about how acting was tiring only when you weren't the greatest actor of your generation, when the lights in the elevator flickered before shutting off completely and the elevator came to a halt. Sonny let out a small squeak of surprise while a loud clap of thunder sounded in the distance. She automatically moved closer to where she thought Chad was, not knowing he had moved closer to her as well, causing her to bump into him.

"Sonny?"

"Chad?" Their hands sought out each other. The darkness was absolute until a few seconds later when a small light on the right side of the elevator came on, allowing them to see each other – though not nearly as well as normal.

Sonny looked up at Chad. They were much closer than normal. "The storm must have knocked the power out." Chad felt her breath ghost his face when she spoke, almost whispering. He was all of a sudden very aware of just how close she was and that they were holding hands, which was making his hand tingle pleasantly. Every breath he took caused him to breathe in her unique scent.

Evidently she must have noticed as well because she dropped his hand as if it was on fire. "Yeah, the generator must be powering the light," he said, glancing at the light and leaned back, away from her – she was much to close.

"But then why hasn't the elevator started moving again?" she asked, her brow furrowing in her confusion.

He couldn't help but think she looked cute when she was confused, _stupid cute. _"The generators are set to give light for as long as possible. The elevators use up a lot of power – you need to change the settings on the generator to have it work the elevators. The generator here can do it, but if no one knows we're in here they won't change it." Chad informed her.

"Oh. Wait, how do _you_ know that?" she asked, surprised by his knowledge of the generators – it didn't really seem like something he would concern himself with.

"I got a role as a maintenance type person in a movie so I followed one of the maintenance guys around for a week. To, you know, get in character," Chad explained.

Oh," she nodded her head, remembering when he followed Jeff for a week. Then she remembered what he had said before, "Wait, does that mean we're stuck in here?" a hint of panic present in her voice. "We can't be stuck!" her voice got higher as well.

"Of course not," Chad replied confidently, "I'm Chad Dylan Cooper – bad things don't happen to me for long. Let's just call someone to get us out."

"Good idea," Sonny was too worried to comment on Chad's egotistical-ness. She began looking thorough her purse for her phone. She soon found her phone only to realize it was dead. "Oh, come on!" she cried and began frantically trying to make it work.

"Sonny…" Chad said, trying to get her to stop hitting her phone. She looked up at him, "I have a phone too, remember?" He held up his own.

"Oh," Sonny took a deep breath. _I'm tired and just want to go home,_ _is that too much to ask for?_

When she looked up, calmer now, Chad was texting someone rapidly. Sonny leaned over to see who it was but he had just sent the message so she was unable to see who it was. "Who did you text?"

"No one," Chad said quickly, "Who should we call?"

"Hm," she decided that finding out whoever Chad was texting could wait until they were out of here and began going through people to call in her head, "I don't really know. Maybe Marshall? Too bad you don't have that maintenance person's number… That would be so lucky."

"Oh, actually, I think I do," Chad said, and began scrolling through his contacts, "What was his name again?"

"What?" Sonny asked, hoping she'd misheard him.

"Ah-ha," Chad cried triumphantly.

"You found it?" Sonny asked eagerly.

"Yeah," he smiled, "I rock."

She laughed, "Just call him already so we can go home."

Chad began to do so when his phone beeped, "Crap"

"What?" Sonny asked anxiously.

"I can't call him," Chad replied, in frustration.

"What!" she looked at his phone. His battery was full so his phone wasn't dying or anything. "Why not?"

"No service." He began circling the elevator, holding his phone this way and that – trying to get service.

"What!" Sonny exclaimed, beginning to panic again. "But you just sent a text message."

"I know!" Chad answered, louder than normal due to his own mounting frustration. "I don't know what happened. The storm must be messing with reception."

"Great, just great," Sonny snapped, "What about that person you texted? What are the chances of them being able to help us?"

"None, okay. They won't be able to anything."

"So the only person who knows we're trapped can't help."

"Hey, this is not my fault. I didn't know we were gonna lose power. It wasn't like I was like, what can I do tonight: go home and relax or be stuck in an elevator for hours with Sonny?" Chad replied.

"This is your fault. If you had just remembered that person's name faster…" Sonny continued, venting. "Geez, could you be more self absorbed?" She muttered under her breath.

"As a matter of fact I could be. Second of all, I followed him around like a year and half ago so it's not that weird I couldn't immediately think of his name. Third of all, I don't see you doing anything useful, Miss-I-can't-remember-to-charge-my-phone." Both were at the end of their ropes, evidenced by the actual yelling and how they were getting in each other's faces.

"It's not like I knew I would need it!" Sonny was angry and surprised by him. He seemed more intense or something and serious. She suddenly wondered if she had ever actually made him angry before.

"And how was I suppose to know I would need to remember him or that my phone would lose service?"

"Well, the point is that it did and now we're stuck in here together for who knows how long. Awesome." She added sarcastically.

"Like I'm just thrilled about this." Chad replied.

She crossed her arms, "I don't see why you're so upset – at least you're not stuck in here with a mean, self-obsessed jerk."

"Hey, you're not perfect either, Princess," he glared at her.

She gasped: as if she was as bad as he was, _how dare he! _"What did I ever do to you? You're the one who goes on about how he's better than everyone else and couldn't do something nice for someone else if his life depended on it."

"Well, let's see," Chad stopped yelling and his voice was almost conversational, "I've never said you were a bad actress-"

She cut him off, "What? You always say how you're 'the greatest actor of our generation'"

"So? First off, I say 'actor', you're an act_ress_ – so that comment doesn't even apply to you. Second, you're the one who said I was the worst actor of our generation, which is worse than even implying you aren't the best if that even applied to you. So who's more self important?" She was surprised. That actually was true; she started to feel a little guilty for saying it.

He seemed to realize this but kept going. "And you're the one who shouted that you _hated_ me into a megaphone." Now she visibly looked guilty, had she really said that? She never realized he never actually said stuff like that.

"And I have done plenty of nice things. Just because I don't broadcast them or be nice to you doesn't mean I'm not to other people. And I have done nice things for you. Like when I thought you hurt your ankle or the weird-beard thing to name a few."

He stared down at her. Eventually she looked away and leaned back against the wall. She sighed and slid down it. _How had this night gone so downhill?_

He seemed to get she was sorry for yelling at him and copied her, sitting next to her. He hadn't meant to snap like that. He just killed his self absorbed, not so smart, unobservant, uncaring image. Why did Sonny always have to throw him off his game?

Sonny glanced over at him. Chad seemed lost in thought, frowning slightly, but he no longer looked angry. She cleared her throat. He looked over at her, his eyes merely curious. "I'm sorry. For saying you're the worst actor of our generation and that I hated you and anything else I might have said." He just stared at her, his gaze intense. "So, sorry," she finished awkwardly.

"It's fine, I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I guess I'm more tired than I thought I was. I'm sorry too, I know you didn't mean those things you said, and I normally provoke you." Chad told her.

Sonny shook her head and smiled at him and he smiled in response. "You know what, Cooper?"

"What, Munroe?"

"I don't get you at all," she informed him; it was something she had thought since she met him.

His smiled widened, "Really? What is there about me that you don't get? We're gonna be in here till I get service back so ask away," He decided to give up, at least with her. He was too tired to pretend to not get what she was saying.

She winced slightly at the mention of their predicament, but suddenly it didn't seem quite so bad. "Well, you act all egotistical and stuff and then you do something nice, like the weird-beard thing. But you only seem to be nice-Chad around me." She shook her head, "I just don't get. Are you like bipolar or do you have multiple personalities or something," She wasn't really serious about the last part.

He got that it was a joke and laughed. "Sorry to disappoint you, but it's nothing quite so interesting. Although you are right, I do act differently and it is only around you, at least here."

She was surprised he just said it like that. She wasn't expecting a real answer, let alone him owning up to his split personality-ness. "What do you mean 'here'?" Sonny asked.

"At the studio. It started out when I first started here. I was nervous and stuff. Normally when I get nervous I kinda become someone else, to help me deal with it. It started out as an acting exercise but became a way to deal with being new. Since I was self-conscious and worried about how my acting was I became someone who wouldn't be at all. And it worked, I was able to stop being nervous but instead of going back to acting normal, I just didn't stop."

"It was kinda like a game. It was fun and got me tons of free stuff. You'd be surprised at how much stuff people will give you if you just act like they should." He smirked at the last part. "It's also less stressful; to pretend you have no responsibilities and stuff. Besides, people had come to expect me to act like that. It would be so weird if I just came in and didn't act like that. It's just become a habit."

"Oh," he had given her a lot to think about; it made sense, but… "Then how come you sometimes dropped the act around me?"

He looked thoughtful, "I'm not sure. Partly because you remained true to yourself when you started here, and I admired that. Most people that do this job can be superficial and so I don't feel guilty about not being myself around them. Plus, it's just too easy to be myself around you." He said seriously, and stared deep into her eyes.

After a few seconds she blinked before responding, "Oh, well, if it means anything, I like the _real_ Chad," She smiled up at him and he smiled back.

"Thanks." Then all of a sudden a beep sounded, they turned eagerly to the phone but it just blinked "searching for service". They sighed disappointedly, partly because of the phone and partly because the moment was over. Sonny leaned back against the wall and sighed, she had forgotten how tired she was.

"We should get service back soon." Chad commented, trying to remain hopeful.

"Yeah, well, nothing to do but wait." She stifled a yawn and closed her eyes.

He looked at her before leaning back next to her and pulling out his iTouch. He began playing a game, keeping his phone out and glancing at it every few minutes.

After a little while he felt something on his shoulder. He looked over and saw that Sonny's head had slid down the wall and was now resting on him. She was fast asleep. _I guess she wasn't kidding when she said she was really tired._ She looked a lot more relaxed asleep. Then she shifted, turning more on her side and closer to him. She reached and hugged his upper arm to herself – all the while still asleep.

Since she seemed so deeply asleep, he decided to risk resting his own head on hers. This was probably the closest he would get to her and he wasn't one to waste an opportunity. She sighed slightly and snuggled closer. He smiled; she looked so cute asleep, _stupid cute_. He kept his phone in his hand and continued glancing at it. Even though she was able to sleep he certainly couldn't. The fact that he needed to keep an eye on the phone, and that she was so close, kept him wide awake.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, there's the first chapter. Please tell me what you think. That means review. I will post the second chapter when I have a total of ten reviews, they can even be ten reviews from the same person, I really don't care, as long as I get them. Thanks so much for reading. Review!


	2. Finally Free

**A/N: **Here is the second chapter. Sorry it took long to get up but I wasn't expecting such a fast response. Thanks so much for all of the reviews. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I still don't own anything but the plot.

**Thunder**

**Chapter 2 - Finally Free**

After a half an hour or so Chad thought he heard his phone beep. He looked over at it and was surprised to see that he now had bars. He gave a silent cheer: _finally!_ He began rapidly scrolling through his contacts to Jon's, the maintenance worker, number. He pressed send before remembering that Sonny was asleep on his shoulder. It seemed to be a shame to wake her up. He picked up his own head and resolved to simply speak quietly.

The phone rang enough times that he was beginning to worry when; "Hello?" came from the other end.

"Hi, this is Chad Dylan Cooper." He spoke quietly but not whispering, making sure to speak clearly as reception was still a bit patchy.

"Oh, what can I do for you Mr. Cooper?" Jon sounded confused. Chad wasn't surprised. He had never actually used the number before and it _was_ after hours.

"Are you by any chance still at the studios?" Chad asked, glancing at Sonny.

"No," he answered slowly, "everyone that was left was sent home when the power went out."

"Damn," Chad muttered, not only in response to that but also because Sonny was starting to move a bit. He hastily reached over and began smoothing her hair – it was the only thing he could think of to try to sooth her.

"Why?" Jon was curious. This whole situation was curious.

"I was here when the power went off and-" Chad began; the hair petting seemed to be working.

"But you guys normally go home at like five."

"We stayed late today and now I'm trapped in the elevator."

"What?"

"Yeah, we were in the elevator when the power went out and we could really use your help. Is there any way you can come over and let us out?" Chad asked.

"Of course" Jon quickly agreed, "Larry was supposed to check everything, lazy idiot." He muttered the last part to himself. Chad decided to remember this "Larry" person and give him a piece of his mind later. "Wait, you said 'we'. Is someone else there with you?"

"Yeah, Sonny Munroe is trapped in here with me," Chad answered, slightly distracted. Running his fingers through her hair seemed to be working. She actually snuggled closer to him causing him to smirk – _no one can resist Chad Dylan Cooper for long_.

"Sonny is there too? I'll come as soon as I can." While it could just have been that two teenagers were trapped in an elevator, not even including that they were two of the studios biggest stars, that made him seem so sincere but Chad would be willing to bet that it was partly because of Sonny being trapped as well. She was nice to everyone backstage and not many stars were, or they didn't acknowledge them but she always did and people remembered that.

"Just to let you know, I'm at home and the roads are terrible. It'll take some time to reset the generator," he warned Chad.

"That's fine," Chad assured him, "As long as someone knows we're here and we can get out of here tonight – instead of trapped for who knows how long."

"Yeah, good point. Hopefully I'll see you soon," Jon agreed.

"Yeah, same. CDC out." He hung up the phone and looked down at Sonny. He managed to be quiet enough that she was still sleeping soundly.

-About 45 Minutes Later-

Chad had been resting his head on Sonny's while waiting when he felt his phone vibrate: it was a text message from Jon. It read: in the building roads were worse than i thought it would help if u told me which elevator u r in"

Chad quickly replied: "the 1 that goes to the upstairs offices closer to the caf"

"k" was the reply. Chad smiled with relief, glad they were finally going to get to go home and that they weren't going to be trapped here until they died of dehydration or something. Sonny stirred; as if she could sense they were close to escape.

Roughly ten minutes later Jon sent another message: "1 more minute".

"Great" Chad wrote back. He decided it was probably time to wake Sonny up. He didn't want to since she looked so peaceful and she had been so tired. However, it would be strange for Jon to find them like this, especially since everyone knew about their fights and general dislike of each other. Sonny would probably be embarrassed anyway, and then most likely blame him.

He sighed before gently shaking her shoulder. At first she merely tightened her grip but then she began moving before slowly opening her chocolate eyes.

Sonny had been so tired that she didn't even remember falling asleep. Waking up she felt rested but still tired seeing as it had been about two hours. She slowly opened her eyes, trying to remember where she was. All she knew was that she had been sleeping really well. As her memory began to return to her she realized that she was clutching something. She slowly turned to look at it and was surprised to see that it was an arm. She blinked at it before it sunk in. It wasn't just any arm. More specifically, it was Chad Dylan Cooper's arm.

She glanced up into his smirking face, which was way closer than normal, and with one look into his sparkly eyes, dropped the arm like it was on fire.

"Have a good sleep?" he asked, still lightly smirking.

She blushed and tried to glare at him before giving up. She decided to pretend like it didn't bother her. "Yes, thanks for asking."

"No problem."

She felt very uncomfortable, "So, what time is it now?"

"About 9:30," he replied, checking his phone.

"Really? I guess I was asleep for a while," she seemed to bring herself back to what she had been avoiding and awkwardly added, "Sorry, about, you know, holding your arm hostage in my sleep."

"I didn't mind. It's fine," he answered, noticing this really seemed to be embarrassing her. She smiled gratefully at him, glad he wasn't making a big deal out of it.

Now that that was no longer at the front of her mind she seemed to remember the predicament they were in. "Were you ever able to reach anyone?"

He could sense that she was beginning to get nervous again and began explaining, "Yup, I did. That's why I woke you up. Jon came and he said he would have us out in about a minute."

"Really?" She was incredibly relieved. He opened his mouth to answer but as if on cue the elevator made a noise and began to move down.

"Really," he answered, smiling. Finally the elevator touched down and the doors opened. Both took a little more time than normal to get up: having been sitting on the ground for about two hours, they were a bit stiff.

Chad got up first, probably because he hadn't been asleep, and reached down to give Sonny a hand up. She gratefully grasped his hand and he pulled her up. They dusted themselves off and got out of the elevator.

The doors closed behind them as Chad turned on the 'flashlight' app on his iTouch. They could see a light coming towards them, though.

It was Jon checking to make sure they got out all right. "Hey, you guys ok?"

"Yeah," Chad replied.

"We're fine. Thank you very much for coming to rescue us. Who knows how long it would have been if you hadn't been able to come," Sonny was immensely grateful.

Jon almost looked embarrassed by the heartfelt 'thank you'. "It was no problem," he rubbed the back of his neck absently, "I'm just glad I could help."

"Chad?" Sonny turned towards him, "Can I borrow your phone? I need to grab some stuff from my dressing room and its dark..."

She trailed off in the end, partly because she seemed to remember who she was asking, but she and Jon were surprised when Chad smiled and said, "Sure, I need to grab some stuff too but Jon can go with me to mine. I have some stuff to talk to him about anyway."

He held out his phone to her and she took it while blinking in confusion at him, "Thanks." She decided not to say anything else in case he reconsidered.

"No problem, we should meet by the main doors in five minutes."

"Ok," she agreed and left to go to her and Tawni's dressing room. He then turned to Jon as she left.

"Let's go to my room now," he suggested and he began walking. Jon quickly followed.

"Did you say there was something you wanted to talk about?" Jon asked. Chad's demeanor was throwing him off. He hadn't once referred to himself in third person, he had given his phone to Sonny, and now he was back to being bossy. But it was different. Normally he was bossy but more in a 'I'm Chad Dylan Cooper and you need to keep me happy, and besides, why wouldn't you do what I want you to do' kind of way. Right now though, he was merely giving off a very strong 'in control' vibe and had a serious expression on his face.

"Yes, I want to talk about that Larry person." Chad had a frown on his face as they continued to his dressing room.

"Larry?" _What does Chad want with one of the other maintenance guys?_

"Yeah, didn't you say that he was the one that was suppose to check and make sure that there wasn't anyone oh, I don't know, trapped in any of the elevators?" Jon actually winced at his tone. Now he knew what the difference between the normal Chad was and this one. He was pissed off. _Very_, pissed off.

Jon looked at him guiltily, "Yeah, he was supposed to. I'm sure it was just a mistake."

"I don't care," They were at his room now and Chad whipped around to face him. "If I didn't have your number in my phone who knows how long it would have been before we could have gotten out, or if I never got service back. We would have been trapped in there for hours. It's the weekend: no one comes here then. We could have suffocated or died of dehydration!"

Now Jon could identify a different emotion in Chad's eyes, under the anger: fear_. The poor guy was still a teenager, it's not surprising that he would be freaked out by this happening. _He put on a calm voice, "First of all, the power will probably come back on soon and there's a vent in the elevator so you wouldn't have suffocated. Besides people do come on the weekends, just not actors and such. You guys would have gotten out fine."

"Well, still…" Chad said with a slight glare as he grabbed his stuff. While he was still annoyed he didn't seem quite as mad, and afraid, as he had before. "That guy should still be fired or at least get in trouble for what happened."

"Yeah," Jon agreed, "Firing might be a little harsh, though, don't you think? Especially if it was an honest mistake."

Chad frowned slightly, "I suppose…" he trailed off doubtfully. "I know! How about when I get back I trap _him_ in the elevator for how long we were in there? That would be awesome!"

Jon laughed, "Maybe, I'll talk to management about it. It does seem better than firing him."

Now a mischievous smile adorned Chad's face, "It's the perfect revenge! Oh, but don't tell Sonny. She'll be all "it was probably just a mistake" blah blah blah and try and make me feel guilty or stop us or something," Chad said as they headed back to the entrance.

Jon chuckled: _That was true_. "Alright, I won't."

"Good," Chad responded as they arrived at the doors. He looked down the hall and thought he saw a light moving down the hall. Sure enough it was Sonny with his iTouch.

She had gone to her dressing room and gotten her purse and things all the while contemplating Chad's behavior and what he had told her in the elevator. Sonny got to where they were waiting. "Hey, thanks for letting me borrow your phone Chad."

"Sure," he smiled as he took it back from her and handed Jon his flashlight back.

"Thanks," Jon acknowledged and Chad nodded his 'you're welcome'. "I should be getting back home now. You kids all set?"

"Yeah," Chad said and Sonny nodded.

"Alright then. I'm just gonna turn off the generator. See ya later!" he called as he walked back to the electric room.

"Later!" Chad yelled after him.

"Bye, thanks again for letting us out!" Sonny added. He saluted his flashlight in response and then they couldn't see him, or rather his flashlight, anymore.

Chad turned towards Sonny, "Did you get your stuff?"

"Yup," she held showed him her purse.

"Remember your phone charger?" he teased, smirking.

She stuck out her tongue, "Oh be quiet."

"So, how are you getting home?" Chad asked.

"Oh, since my mom had to go back to Wisconsin this week I've been taking the bus," Sonny informed him.

He frowned, "Well, you can't do that now."

"Why not?" she asked indignant.

Chad just opened the door in response. The thunder was even louder with the door open and it was pouring.

Sonny stared doubtfully out into the darkness and rain. "Well… Still, I'll just take the bus."

"Come on," he said condescendingly, "I'll give you a ride. You can't seriously consider taking the bus."

Her eyes narrowed at his tone. "Yes, I can and I am so too bad." Her eyes glinted as she stared up at him before she took off into the rain to the bus stop.

He groaned, _stupid stubbornness_, and then he ran after her. He was quickly getting very wet. He reached the bench for the bus stop, glad to be under some cover. Sonny got off the bench when he sat down and turned her back to him at the edge of the small roof over the bus stop. She looked cold though she jutted her chin out and refused to even look at him. "Look, Sonny. I'm sorry. But I mean the buses probably aren't even running in this kinda weather. Let me give you a ride home."

She turned around to look at him. He looked genuinely sorry and his hair was all messed up. She giggled: he looked like a wet puppy. "Well," she started, just as a car drove past them, going way too fast. Unfortunately for Sonny, he went through a puddle and a big splash came up. She let out a small scream when the water hit her and whipped around to try and see who did it but they were long gone.

Chad on the other hand was caught between feeling bad for her and trying not to laugh. She turned back around, rubbing her hands on her arms, trying to get some warmth back. "Um, what were you saying about a ride?" she asked sheepishly.

He smiled, "Follow me." He reached out and grabbed her hand. They ran through the rain towards his car, both trying to ignore the feeling of the others' hand in their own.

By the time they reached his car they were both very wet, though Sonny even more so than Chad. Chad quickly went to the driver's door and got in, turning on the car and therefore the heat faster than he ever had before. Sonny sprinted to the passenger door and jumped in. The heat came blasting out and both panted from racing to the car as they held their hands to the vents for a few minutes.

Chad looked over at Sonny, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," she smiled, "I almost have the feeling back in my fingers."

He smiled back and turned on the windshield wipers. However, it was raining so hard it didn't make much of a difference. Chad frowned as he backed out of the space. He went to the exit of the parking lot and looked out into the darkness only illuminated by the headlights. He pulled out onto the road and drove slower than he normally did. It didn't matter much because there were hardly any other cars out on the road. They reached a stoplight and Chad seemed to be seriously thinking about something. Sonny didn't want to interrupt him, but when the light changed he seemed to have come to a decision. He turned right and continued at the slower pace, squinting through the rain.

"Um, Chad?" Sonny asked hesitantly, not wanting to break his concentration.

"Yeah?" Chad answered, not looking away from the road.

"My house is in the opposite direction," Sonny informed him.

"Yeah," he acknowledged. When she gave a confused look he sighed, "Look, it's very hard to drive in this weather and it's late and my house is much closer. The less we're on the road the better. So, why don't you just stay the night? We have a guest room you could stay in."

"Um," Sonny was conflicted. Her mom would kill her if she stayed the night at a guy's house but… She yawned. The nap from before had not stopped her from being tired and now she was wet and still cold. She was also surprised he even thought to ask. "I guess…" she said hesitantly.

Chad was kind of surprised she had agreed but he decided, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, that it was probably due to the long day and the cold and the wet and that fact that he was being his nice self. He decided not to say anything else in case she changed her mind. He tried to turn on the radio, to ease the silence, but all he could get was static so he focused his full attention back to driving.

A couple of minutes later Chad pulled into a driveway. Sonny looked out the window, trying to see his house but she really couldn't see much. Chad hit the button on the remote causing the garage door to go up. And he pulled inside.

* * *

**A/N: **So there it is. Hope you liked it. Once again please please review. I would like 10 additional reviews (that means 24 in total) before the next chapter(the final chapter) goes up but along with that it will take at least a week for that chapter to go up. I'll try to post in exactly one week (as long as I have the reviews) but I can't promise. Regardless, the more reviews the fast it will go up so... Review! Thanks again for reading!


	3. Good Night

**A/N:** Hey people. I'm so so so sorry that its taken almost a year to post the third chapter. (it hasn't actually been a full year, does that count? -ducks when things are thrown- okay, okay, you're right-it doesn't) It just refused to be written. Finally I wrote it in pieces and it was being all difficult and...Anyway, this is basically the final chapter. I hope the ending is worth the wait but I'm pretty sure it might not be. Did I mention I was sorry?

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing rightly so.

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**Chapter 3 – Good Night**

Sonny looked around the garage. There was one other car in it, along with room for a couple others, but it wasn't as big as some other stars' garages were. She had figured his garage—and house—would be huge.

He shut off the car and got out. She shook herself out of her thoughts and got out as well. Chad led them to a door on the left. He opened it and gestured her forward, "Ladies first."

She smiled, "Thanks," and stepped into the house. It was dark and Chad flipped on a light switch. Sonny blinked as her eyes readjusted to the light and looked around. They appeared to be in a coatroom type area. There were coats hanging on hooks, shoes lined up against the wall, even an umbrella stand and a hat rack.

Chad took off his shoes and put them next to a couple of others. "You can put your things in here," he informed her as he took of his coat and hung it up.

"Okay," she answered and copied him.

"Looks like neither of my parents are back," Chad commented.

"Oh, where are they?" Sonny asked; she had assumed the other car was theirs.

Chad shrugged, "I don't know. My dad is probably in New York and my mom's probably still in Paris. I think she said something about shopping." He began walking and she followed. His tone was light, but in a practiced way.

"Oh," Sonny was surprised; he seemed to be acting as if not having his parents home was usual. She thought it was strange that they didn't even bother to tell him they were or were not going to be home. She suddenly realized she knew almost nothing about his home life. They reached a new room and he turned on another light. They were in the kitchen. It looked brand new; sleek marble countertops, stainless steel appliances and dark cabinetry.

"I was thinking of making some hot chocolate?" Chad suggested.

Sonny nodded eagerly; she was still cold and she always liked to have some after a long day. "Definitely, I love hot cocoa. If you want to, I can make my special blend for you."

"Really?" he flashed a bright smile, "That'll be great." He filled up a kettle with water and set it on the stove.

"I'm surprised you don't have a personal chef and, like….a butler," Sonny joked, voicing her thoughts aloud. While his house was really nice, it wasn't quite the elaborate mansion she had pictured, not that she commonly pictured his house, or anything like that.

He smirked, "Sorry to disappoint you. I do have a housekeeper. She cleans and cooks and stuff like that, but only during the week. She goes home around 5 on Fridays." Then he turned his head to the side as if listening to something in the distance. "Just a minute."

He then went to the other side of the kitchen and out of sight. After a minute spent admiring her surroundings she followed him into a hallway and down to a doorway she could see a bit of light coming from. As she got closer she heard that the TV was on. She reached the doorway and looked in. Sure enough, there was a large TV on the opposite wall. Facing it was a large brown leather couch. Chad was standing off to the side, talking to someone she assumed was on the couch.

"… you were supposed to be in bed over an hour ago," Chad admonished with a stern look on his face. He looked up and saw Sonny in the doorway. He smiled at her and she smiled back. Chad directed his attention back to the person on the couch. "Now, there's someone I want you to meet. Sonny is here."

"Really?" Sonny heard a voice come from the couch. It was a girl's voice, a young girl's voice.

"Yup, come on and say 'hi'" Chad said and he reached down. When he straightened up he was holding a little girl. She looked to be about six or seven. Her legs were around his torso and he had one arm around her back. She seemed to be wearing purple pajamas. She had long blond hair and the same blue eyes as Chad. "Sonny, this is my little sister, Alyssa. Alyssa, this is Sonny."

"Hi," Sonny said smiling. The girl was so cute, and not scary like some other little girls she knew, cough-Dakota-cough.

The girl smiled back, a bit shy, "Hi, I've seen you on TV. You're funny."

Sonny's smile widened, _definitely better than Dakota. _"Thanks, at least someone has a sense of humor," she added pointedly at Chad, smirking.

He made a face at her in response, causing his sister to giggle. "Now," Chad seemed to remember what he was saying to her before and looked at her sternly, "I told you I was gonna be late and that you were going to have to put yourself to bed."

_Oh,_ Sonny thought, _that must have been who he texted in the elevator. _Her opinion of him went donned a puppy dog expression and looked up at him with big eyes, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to wait for you."

Chad held out for a bit but no one could withstand that kind of look for long, "Yeah, well," he sighed, "I guess you're still up and everything so, do you want some hot chocolate?"

She smiled and nodded enthusiastically, "Yay! Hot Chocolate!" She moved to get out of his arms and he set her down. She immediately headed for the kitchen. Sonny, who sensed the child's intent, moved out of the way.

Chad began to follow, shaking his head with a smile, "She's never gonna get to sleep now."

"I didn't know you had such a cute little sister," Sonny realized as they followed the girl at a more normal pace down the hall.

Chad shrugged, "You never asked."

"Yeah, still…" Something nagged at her that she should have known regardless, but she abandoned that thought as they had reached the kitchen.

Alyssa had used that time to get out a stool, get up on the counter and begin getting out ingredients. She was currently setting down marshmallows. Chad immediately went over to her, "Alyssa, you shouldn't climb up on the counter, especially with no one to catch you if you fall." Still, he didn't take her down, just stood behind her, his hands ready to catch her.

"I know, but I knew you were right behind me and, besides, the counter's big." Alyssa grabbed the cocoa mix and pouted down at Chad.

He sighed, "Come on down." He picked her up and spun her around while she giggled. Sonny repressed the urge to say "aw". Chad was so cute when he was being nice. Just then the kettle began to whistle.

Chad set Alyssa down, "I'll grab the mugs. Sonny, can you take it off the burner?" He gestured to the kettle.

"Sure," she went to move it and Chad went to one of the cabinets to grab three mugs.

Sonny began preparing the cocoa while Chad questioned Alyssa about her day. True to little kid fashion, Alyssa was soon regaling them with play-by-play descriptions of her day as they sipped delicious hot chocolate. Soon though, the time began catching up to the little girl and not even the extra cup of sugar was enough to keep her animated.

Chad saw it immediately and, despite her claiming that she was still wide awake, he insisted it really was time for her to go to bed. It was way past her normal bedtime.

She sighed dramatically before agreeing. Then her eyes lit up as she turned to him.

"Can Sonny read me my story?" Alyssa asked.

Cad smiled down at her, "That's up to Sonny, go ask her."

Alyssa turned to Sonny, "Would you read me my bedtime story?" she asked earnestly.

While Sonny was tired from the long day she supposed one story wouldn't take long. Besides, how could she say no to such a cute little kid? "Of course I'll read you a story."

"Yay!" she went and grabbed Sonny's hand and began pulling her upstairs, "Come on. I wanna show you my room!"

Sonny laughed but let herself be pulled by the eager girl. She glanced at Chad and he smiled in response, "I'll clean up down here and make sure the guest room is ready. What do you want to do for pajamas? I could probably find something of my mother's or maybe something of mine that's too small for me now?"

Sonny hadn't really thought over this stuff and blushed slightly, realizing she was indeed going to stay over at his house. "Well," she thought it over, "I think I'd feel weird wearing anything of your mom's especially since I've never even met her and stuff…"

"Alright, I'll find something." Chad answered and Sonny smiled gratefully in response.

"Come on!" Alyssa tugged insistently on Sonny's hand, her face covered in impatience.

"I guess I'd better go," she said with a laugh. "Thanks!" was all she managed as she was pulled from the room.

Chad began to gather up their mugs and clear off the counter. He was really surprised that Sonny was actually here, at his house, reading to his little sister. Although, he supposed that he wasn't surprised now that she was here; things were going well and they seemed to be getting along. He had long since acknowledged his feelings for Sonny but had felt that she disliked his usual persona too much to ever reciprocate those feelings. Now, though, he felt that maybe he did have a chance.

He finished up, thinking about her the whole time, before heading upstairs to check on both girls. He dropped by the guest room first to make sure it was in good order as they didn't often have overnight guests. He gave it a quick once over and everything seemed okay. He dropped off the purse that she had left on the counter before he went down the hall to grab some stuff from his room.

A few minutes later he leaned in the doorway of Alyssa's room, watching as Sonny finished up the story she was reading. He knew no one else could have made such a pretty picture and no one else at work would have been as nice to his little sister. A smile lit up his face as she reached the end.

"One more," Alyssa tried to protest, a yawn interrupting her, "Please?"

Sonny smiled at the cute girl and Chad could see her starting to give in, even though she was tired as well.

"One story a night, you know that 'Lyssa. Besides, you're almost asleep already," Chad spoke up from his spot in the doorframe. Both girls turned to him and smiled seeing him there.

"Aww," Alyssa complained sleepily.

"Time for sleep," Chad said as she yawned once more, causing Sonny to yawn as well. He chuckled lightly, "See, Sonny is tired too."

He walked over to tuck her in the way she liked it while Sonny stood up and put the book back on the shelf. "Good night, Alyssa. Sweet dreams." He gave her a kiss on the forehead.

"'Night, Chad," she replied, eyes already closed, snuggling deeper into her blankets. "Night, Sonny," she added as Chad turned off the lights.

"Good night, Alyssa," Sonny replied softly as they left the room, leaving the door open a bit.

Chad motioned her down the hall before stopping in front of an open door farther down. "Here's the guest room," he informed her, gesturing through the open door.

She looked into the room. It was pretty simple but still nice. A full size bed with a navy comforter, with the headboard against the left wall – towards the center of the room—and dresser opposite filled the room. Two night stands in shades matching the bedspread were on either side of the bed.

"It's nice," she told him, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," he answered, before handing her something. She hadn't even noticed he was carrying anything. "These are some clothes of mine that I grew out of, but they should fit you fine. My room is the one on the end if you need anything else."

"Thanks," she said again, "I'm gonna get ready for bed then." She went into the room and shut the door. He continued to stare at the door for a second before heading to his own room.

She looked around the room once more as Chad's footsteps faded down the hall. She saw that he had put her purse on the bed and smiled that he had remembered. She reached in and pulled out her charger, refusing to keep her phone uncharged for any longer, just on principle. She set down the clothes he had given her and looked them over. There was a light blue button up shirt and flannel pants. Both looked very comfortable.

After a minute or so he heard a knock on his door, "Come in," he called over his shoulder, turning around to face the person.

Sonny snuck her head in before opening the door fully, "I was wondering…" she cut off abruptly when she realized that Chad's shirt, similar to the one he had given her, was unbuttoned. Her face heat up.

He smirked lightly at her reaction, "You were wondering…" he prompted, finishing the last of the buttons.

"Right, I was wondering where the bathroom was and if you had a spare toothbrush that I could borrow. I don't exactly walk around with a spare," she answered, getting her bearings back, suddenly very aware that she was staying at Chad's overnight wearing his clothes, and that she had just seen his bare chest. Needless to say that, despite the confidence returning to her voice, her blush didn't exactly fade.

"Oh, right. I forgot about that. You can use my bathroom." He headed to the door to her right and, sure enough, there was a very nice bathroom. "I think Maria keeps extra toothbrushes in the top left drawer."

"Alright," she answered, as she went in. It certainly was big and fancy—this was more what she was expecting his whole house to be like. There was a large hot tub, a shower with multiple jets, a big sink and mirror.

She quickly located the drawer and found the toothbrush. He stayed in his room and she brushed rather fast, self conscious as he was only a few feet away.

When she came out she saw that he was shutting down his computer. Now that she had regained most of her composure she looked around more than she had before. His room was very impressive and yet still comfortable. There was a large bed near the center, black comforter and blue pillows, both looking as if they were very high quality. His computer was on a large dark wood desk. There were even a few books on it as well as some notebooks for school. She decided what made it not be too daunting was that it looked lived in. Some star's homes always looked so perfect that you could barely even picture someone living there.

He smiled at her when she came out and she headed for the door. She stepped out into the hallway before turning around and he leaned in his door frame. She smiled up at him, "Thanks for letting me stay over."

"You're welcome," he said warmly, "it's no trouble at all. Besides, Alyssa really seemed to like you. If she's happy, then how can I not be?" he added with a twinkle in his eye.

"She's an excellent judge of character," Sonny quipped, "I like her too." She frowned slightly, finally remembering why she thought it was weird she didn't know he had a sister. He looked at her with a question in his eyes. "I thought it was strange that I didn't know you had a sister and now I remember why. No article or anything has ever mentioned your family."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, "I'm surprised you noticed. You read a lot of articles on me?"

She rolled her eyes, cheeks flushing lightly, "Oh, shut up."

He shook his head while smirking, "Looks like Sonny is a bit more of a CDC fan than she lets on."

She recognized the joke in his tone, "Well, you know what they say"—he gave her a look that said "go on"—"keep your friends close," she leaned in a bit, "and your enemies closer."

He nodded, keeping his light smirk in place, "Of course. But to answer your question, I found that sometimes it's nice to keep some stuff personal and that if you ramble on about how awesome you are and how good you look and how great of an actor you are—people don't ask big questions. She deserves at least a bit of a normal life, after all." His smile stayed the same but his eyes shone—serious and sincere.

She nodded lightly in understanding. There was a lot below the surface to him and she found that the more she uncovered, the more she liked what she found. "Just when I think I've got you figured out…"

He smirked, "It's only fair—you surprise me all the time." They had been leaning slightly closer throughout the conversation and suddenly they were quite close to each other. Chad found his resistance crumbling before giving up, _stupid beautiful. _

He crossed the distance between them, hand falling gently on her shoulder, lips meeting her own just as gently. Her eyes had widened slightly when he moved, and now slipped closed as she melted into the kiss.

He pulled away briefly before quickly returning, this time with more passion, more confident in regards to her feelings for him. She responded eagerly, hands going around his neck. His hand moved from her shoulder to bury itself in her hair, while its partner landed on her waist. He maneuvered her mouth open and they continued to make out passionately. Soon, though, they became increasingly aware of a need to breathe and they separated reluctantly.

Sonny opened her eyes and as his opened she met his gaze, hers shy but sparkling. As she caught her breath, she reluctantly leaned away from him, "I should probably go to bed now," she informed him just as reluctantly. She then let out a yawn, surprising both of them into quiet laughter.

"Of course, wouldn't want to keep you up past your bed time," he joked, his eyes twinkling.

She stuck her tongue out at him in response. "Good night, Chad" she told him as she backed down the hall.

"'Night, Sonny," he responded before she turned, opened her door, gave him a broad smile and closed the door behind her.

She leaned against the closed door, the smile still on her face before she yawned once more and made her way over to the bed. She collapsed on it, exhausted. If anyone had told her how the day would unfold she would have told them they were crazy. She laughed inwardly at the thought before surrendering to sleep, a smile still on her lips.

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**A/N:** There you go. What do you think? Now if you remember I said that was basically the end. I won't be continuing to the morning or anything like that. However I did write a short Epilogue (which has unfortunately been done for months) that focuses on when they all come back after the month break that you may remember from the first chapter. I'll post that the second I get ten more reviews (well maybe not the second but as soon as I possibly can). So review!


	4. Epilogue: Back to Normal, Right?

**A/N:** Here is the Epilogue, as I said it's rather short cuz its only an epilogue but I still think its pretty good. I was going to wait for ten reviews but I decided that even though I only got 6 that I'll post it anyway. Mainly because I made you wait _forever_ for the third chapter and I noticed I posted the first chapter almost exactly a year ago. I was going to put it up exactly on the 1st to make it all nice and even but I hit a snag: I had to get all four of my wisdom teeth removed and apparently my body didn't like that and rebelled by making me _miserable_ and unable to _anything_ for days. So I'm posting it now that I am, perhaps not completely better, but at least able to function.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing

**Thunder**

**Epilogue – Back to Normal, Right?**

It was everyone's first day back after the break. It was a typical day for everyone in the Condor Studios' cafeteria. Sonny was in line for food, trying to decide which of the questionable choices was the least objectionable.

Then Chad strode into the room, grabbed a tray and headed straight for the lunch lady. "Hello, Brenda," he said pleasantly.

"Hi, Chad. So nice to see you again. How was your break?" the normally unpleasant lunch lady asked.

"Good, good," Chad responded.

"Well, here you go – made it special for the number one tween drama star," the lady preened. She gave him a full steak dinner, with all of the trimmings.

"We of the Falls, thank you," he said rather dramatically, causing Brenda to giggle in response. Sonny had tried to ignore this exchange as it always made her so angry when the lunch lady played favorites. It was her first day back: she didn't want to fight. But…it just got her so annoyed!

She couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "Stupid lunch lady, stupid Mackenzie Falls getting stupid special treatment."

And of course, she wasn't quite quiet enough and Chad couldn't help commenting, "Hello Munroe. What was that?"

"Chad," she acknowledged, "I was just noticing that once again I have to eat..." she stared at the food trying to decipher what it was, "mystery meat and you get a steak. It isn't fair," she finished insistently.

"Well, when you get to be the number one show then–" he broke off into laughter, "Sorry, just couldn't help it," he added, teasingly.

She flushed and glared at him, "Ha, ha, that's just hilarious. Look, all I'm saying is that we should at least get edible food if you get steak."

"I don't know why you're telling me – I don't make the food," Chad answered.

"Yeah, but you take advantage of the flawed system," Sonny shot back.

"Of course I do. If it was the other way around, so would you."

"I would not!" she protested indignantly.

"Really, Sonny, really?"

"Really, Chad." She looked down at her tray before dumping it in the trash, "I'm gonna go find some edible food."

"Fine."

"Fine."

"Good."

"Good."

"So, we're good?"

"Oh, we're so good!" And with that Sonny stalked out. Chad went over to his table and huffed before becoming his usual smiling self again.

Tawni had looked up briefly during their exchange before she went back to checking her make-up, but she couldn't help the small smile at the commonplace behavior. Zora laughed from her place in the vents—she thought she saw something that wasn't there before—what fun it was to be back with people to spy on again. Nico and Grady laughed; glad to be back with all their friends in typical familiarity.

-Later at the end of the Day in Tawni and Sony's Dressing Room-

Tawni was preening at her vanity in the dressing room while Sonny was on her bed reading a magazine. Both were simply relaxing – it was almost time to leave and they were pretty much done for the day.

Then there was a knock on the door before the person simply entered. Tawni looked over and saw that it was Chad, "Chad?" her brow wrinkled in confusion, "Why are you here?"

Sonny looked up from her magazine as soon as Tawni said his name. He walked over to her. "I'm here for Sonny," he said in response to Tawni's question.

"Hey, Chad," Sonny said. Chad leaned down and gave her a short kiss. Both pulled away, smiling.

"I'll grab your coat," he offered, and went to get it.

"Okay. Where are we going again?" Sonny stretched before getting up and set down her magazine. He came back over and helped her into her jacket.

"I told you, it's a surprise," he answered with a smile. She looked up at him, smiling as well. Then a strange noise broke their stare causing the couple to direct their gazes to Tawni. She seemed to be half in shock and half very confused. In fact, she looked rather similar to a fish out of water.

"Oh, Tawni. Did I forget to mention Chad and I are dating?" Sonny said with false confusion and nonchalance, trying to contain her laughter at the expression on the other girl's face.

"Yes!" Tawni exclaimed with an outraged look on her face; although Sonny couldn't tell if it was because she was dating Chad or because she hadn't told her that she was dating Chad.

"Opps, my bad." she shrugged and turned to Chad with a smile, "Let's go."

They both left the room to go on their date, but not before Chad turned around in the door frame and shouted, "Peace out, sucka!"

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**A/N:** There you go. Now the story is complete. i kinda don't believe it but its. Now, just because its done doesn't mean you shouldn't review. Please? Thanks for taking the time to follow the story especially those of you from the beginning-really sorry 'bout the long wait. Thanks again to everyone-especially those who reviewed.


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